Knitted fabric



N. SCHWARTZ Dec. 6, 1938.

KNITTED FABRIC Filed Oct. 18, 1957 c C@ .wnr

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' breakage of loops.

Patented Dec. 6, 1938 UNiTEo STATES PATENT OFFICE i llllaims.

The object of the invention `is to produce a. non-run knitted fabric; that is, a fabric in which so-called runs, due to the breaking of loops, can not take place; or at least can not extend for any substantial distance. While such a. fabric is adapted for general use, it is particularly useful in the manufacture of hosiery, where runs destroy, or at least greatly impair, the usefulness of the garment. l

in certain broadaspects, such a fabric is disclosed in my earlier patent, No. 1,470,490, granted October 9, 1923,'wherein certain ofthe loops or stitches of the fabric are spread laterally and supported or interlocked in adjacent Wales. This construction protects the fabric against runs, but the spreading of the loops or stitches gives the fabric an appearance somewhat simulating socalled lace work, which to some persons is objectionable. 'My present invention avoids this effect, for the normal or face loops of the fabric are in no Way distorted, and the face of `4the fabric has the general appearance of standard knitted goods. Butthese normal loops are nevertheless protected against runs. This is effected by the use of auxiliary courses of special loops or stitches, preferably in the back of the standard fabric. These special loops are knit with the normal loops, and are themselves supported in wales adjacent to those in Which they originate, .so that the breakage of a loop in any particular Wale will not result in the unroving of the succeeding loops; at least, not beyond the first auxiliary loop of that particular Wale. These special or auxiliary loops may be provided for every loop of every course of normal loops; but suiiiciently effective protection is given by'providing each Wale with more or less closely spaced auxiliary loops, so that no run of substantial length can occur, and such breaks as may arise can be readily repaired.

vBy this construction, the auxiliary or interlocking loops do not in any way affect the appearance of the face side of the fabric, and yet the fabric is fully protected against runs due to No run can extend farther than to the next auxiliary or supporting loop, and since these special loops will follow each other directly, or at least closely, in every Wale, or in substantially every wale, no run of "substantial length can occur.

These special courses may be used with every normal course, and in every wale; but usually every second"or third course will sufllce; and.

every second or third wale in the course. By w alternating these special loops in successive wales,

so that every Wale, or substantially every Wale, is protected, the entire fabric is rendered runproof, or substantially runproof.

Fig. 1 is a view, greatly enlarged, of the back of a piece of knitted fabricembodying my invention, with the protecting loops or stitches in alternate courses and alternate wales.

Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. l, but with the protecting loops or stitches in every course, but in alternate wales. f

Fig. 3 is a view, still further enlarged, of the fabric, but with the protecting loops in every course and every Wale,

Fig. 4 is a face or front view of a portion ofthe fabric shown in Fig..1, with the threads and loops greatly enlarged.

In the drawings, Fig. l shows the rear side of a standard knitted fabric With my invention applied thereto or embodied therein, the elements of the fabric being enlarged for purposes of illustration, and ease of explanation. This figure shows the fabric as comprising aseries of normal or regular courses, arranged in a series of normal or regular wales, the loops of any course supporting the loops of the preceding course, as is usual in the knitting of any standard fabric. For convenience, these courses arefnumbered i to l, inclusive, while the wales are numbered from id to i8, inclusive.

superimposed on this fabric of normal courses and. normal wales, and on what will be termed herein the back thereof, are special courses of auxiliary or supporting loops, formed from an independent yarn. These auxiliary courses of special loops, here numbered 20, 22 and 24, correspond in position' to the alternate normal courses 2, 4 and 6 of the face of the fabric; and the loops of these special coursesof auxiliary .loops are here shown alternating with the normal loops of such normal courses. Moreover, these auxiliary loops in their 'successive courses are interspaced, so that the wales which are skipped in one course are locked by succeeding courses throughout the fabric. These auxiliaryloops, Y While they originate in one Wale, are shifted over and knitted in adjoining, or at least adjacent, wales; and. this protects the wales in which these loops originate and prevents runs from passing the point in which such loops have their origin.

The auxiliary or interlocking vcourse 20 has its loops 20e, 2D", 2lic and 20d originatingy in normal course 3, but their bights are all displaced to the right or left (here shown toA the left), and knitted into the loops `of normal course 2. Thus.

loop 201,' which originates in normal course Wale ii, has its bight displaced and supported in course 2, Wale in; and loop 2li, which originates in; the same'course 3, but in Wale i 3, has its bight displaced and supported in course 2, Wale I2; likewise, ,loops 20 and 20d, which also originate in course 3, each has its bight diverted or displaced one Wale, here shown to the left, and locked in the following course 2, 23, in Wale i4, and 26d, in Wale IE5.

The loops of auxiliary courses 22 and 24 are similarly knitted into the abric; but the loops of auxiliary course 22 are staggered with respect Vto the loops of auxiliary course 2i); and the loops of the course 1253 are again staggered with remy invention.

rwines lo, u, Iz, u, u, Is, Is and n correspondspect to the loops of course 22. Thus, auxiliary loop t2 oi auxiliary course 22 originates in normal course it, vWale- IO, but is locked in normal course fi, in the Wale next to the leit (unnumbered); loop 221 originates in the same normal course 5, Wale i2, and is locked in course 4, Wale i I; loop 22 originates in normal course 5, Wale ifi, and is locked in course 4, Wale I3; and loop 22d originates in normal course .5, Wale iL and is locked in normal course t, Wale I5.

The loops of auxiliary course 24, namely, loops f, 24D, 24% etc., all originate in the normal course l, and all have their bights locked in normal course 6, the bight oi' each loop being displacedone Wale to the 'left and locked therein; loop 24, in Wale i0; loop 24, in Wale i2; and loop 24, in Wale I4./

In t the above description, the protectingY or interlocking loops are described as being in auxiliary courses. This is correct, but from one point of view the courses in which these special loops are knit may be described as forming, with the face loops, special courses, comprising regular `loops and special loops; and someof the claims are framed in these terms.

Aswill be explained later, this arrangement of auxiliary or interlocking loops may be much varied; and these auxiliary loops may have their bights displaced either to the right or'to the left; and they may be displaced two wales either right or lett insteady of only one Wale. Furthermore,

they may be interlocked in the `second, or even the third course from that in which theyoriginate. Still further, these auxiliary loops may be formed in every course, and in every Wale of' every course; the principle of the invention being the useof auxiliary interlocking and supporting loops, each of which supports a normal loop in one Wale and is itself supportedl in some other Wale. In the form shown in Fig. l, the auxiliary loops are relatively short, and the amount oi' yarn used in this arrangement isiess than inthe other possible forms; but it is to be understood that all other possible arrangements oi these auxiliary loops are within the 'scoperof In Fig. 2, the invention is applied to the fabric in every course, instead of in every other course, as in Fig. 1; but with the auxiliary loops in every other Wale as in Fig. 1. The normal courses I, 2, I, 4, E and l correspond to the normal courses I to i, inclusive. of Fig. 1;and the normal to the normal wales III to IIJnclusive,V of Fig. 1. The auxiliary or interlocking courses are here numbered I9, 20, 2|, 22 and 23. there beinglone such course for each normal course, instead o! one for every other course of normal loops, as in Fig. 1. In this ilgure, it isnot necessary to de; scribe every loop, or even every course; but rei'erring speciiically to aumliary course I9, the loop ISS is shown as originating in normal course 2, Wale I2, and having its bight deilected and locked in normal course i, Wale II; loop I9b originates in normal course 2, Wale I4, and has its bight deected and locked in normal course I. Wale I3; and loop I9 originates in course 2, Wale i6, and has its bight deected and locked in normal course i, Wale I5. Similarly, in auxiliary course 26, the individual auxiliary loops 20", 20", 253 and 20d all originate in normal course 3, iust as all similarly numbered loops in Fig. 1, and each loop has its bight deflected one Waleto the left, and locked in normal course 2.

Here it will be seen that the auxiliary loops of the auxiliary courses support both the corresponding normal loops of that course, and the auxiliary loops of the next preceding auxiliary course. Thus, the auxiliary loop ISG, Fig. 2, supports the bight of normal-loop IGI of course 2, Wale I 6, and also the auxiliary loop 20d, which has its origin in course 3, Wale il, and is deected to course 2, Wale I6; and to carry the description further, auxiliary loop 22C, for instance, supports normal loop I5, in normal course 5. and also thebight of auxiliary loop 23. And in like manner, every other auxiliary loop supports a normal loop and an auxiliary loop.

It Will be seen that in this form, the auxiliary or interlocking loops are closer together in the several wales than they are in the construction shown in Fig. l; and any breakage that may occur can not run more than two loops. For instance, should normal loop Iiib be ruptured, the

normal loop I8 immediately below will be released, but the next lower loop will be protected, and the run stopped by auxiliary loop 22d. And this is true 'throughoutthe fabric.

Fig. 3 shows the rear side of a piece oi' fabric in which every normal loop has its own auxiliary or supporting loop. There is an auxiliary course for each normal course, and each auxiliary course has a loop in each normal Wale; thus 'there are as many auxiliary loops as there are normal loops. The knitted structure is here shown iurther enlarged, so that the construction can readily be understood. The several courses of normal loops are numbered I, 2,'3, etc., as in Figs. 1 and 2; while the normal Wales are designated III, II, I2, I3 and I4 asin said prior gures. The auxiliary courses are numberedx20, 2| and 22, vand correspond to the similarly numbered courses in Fig". 2. This form of fabric does not lneed extended description, for the auxiliary ports the bight of normal loop Il, and the bight o! deflected auxiliary loop 2I. Similarly, every otherauxiliary loop is supported in some adjacent course and Wale, and itself supports both a normal loop in some other course and Wale and some other auxiliary loop. Thus, in this i'orm of fabric, every loop of every Wale is protected. Broken loops are not prevented; but individual loops, if broken. can not develpp/into rims.

rIbis form of the invention thus gives the best possible protection, but of course uses more yarn,v

and makes a heavier fabric, than do the forms shown in Figs. l and 2.

Fig. Il illustrates the face of the fabric shown in Fig. 1; that is, there is an auxiliary course for every alternate course of normal loops, and each auxiliary course supports the normal loops of alternate wales. And the auxiliary loops of succeeding courses are interspersed with the loops of preceding auxiliary courses, so that every Wale is provided with interlocking loops throughout the extent of the fabric. The reference characters here used are the same as those employed in Fig. 1, but since this figure shows the reverse side of that fabric, the reference characters also are reversed. The courses of normal loops are numbered l, 2, 3, t and 5; and the normal wales, lil, il, l2, i3, lil, l5 and lli, as in Fig. 1; and the auxiliary courses are numbered 20, 22 and 24. Since the construction of the fabric has been given in the description of Fig. 1, such description will not be repeated here.

This illustration of the face of the fabric shows all loops enlarged, and with the yarns relatively fine, so that the construction may be clearly understood. In practice, the normal loops will be relatively small and close together, so that the auxiliary loops on the back of the fabric will not appear, or at least will be scarcely perceptible. And if the thread of these auxiliary loops is of the same color, or substantially the same color, as the thread or threads constituting the face of the fabric, as will usually be the case, the auxiliary loops, to all intents and purposes, will be invisible.

In the several figures above described, the special or auxiliary loops are shown as displaced laterally to adjoining wales, and locked in courses adjoining those in which these loops originate; but it is not essential that the locking be effected in the next wale or the next course; it is essential only that the locking wales andcourses be relatively close to the origin of these loops. Each auxiliary loop may be displaced laterally and locked in the second Wale from that in which it originates, or even in a more distant Wale; and the course in which it is secured need not be the next adjacent course, but may be the second or even a more distant course.

In the above description, as well as in the following claims, the word"loop is to be regarded as meaning the same as sttc and norma as the equivalent of regular; so that normal loops and regular stitches are to be considered equivalent descriptive expressions.

I claim:

1. A nonrun knit fabric having one face of regular loops knit from one thread in normal courses, and the other face of transferred loops only knit in continuous sequence in auxiliary courses from different thread.

2. A nonrun knitted fabric comprising courses each of which is formed of a plurality of threads, one knitted in regular loops and another knitted in a continuous series of auxiliary transferred loops.

3. A nonrun knitted fabric comprising courses alternate ones of which are formed of a plurality of threads, one knitted in regular loops and another knitted in a continuous series of auxiliary transferred loops.

4. A nonrun knitted fabric having courses formed of two threads, one knitted in regular loops and the other knitted in a continuous series of laterally transferred loops.

5. A nonrun knitted fabric having courses certain of which are formed of two threads, one knitted in regular loops and the other knitted in a continuous series of laterally transferred loops.

6. A nonrun knitted fabric having courses each of which is formed of two threads, one knitted in regular loops and forming one side of the fabric and the other knitted in a continuous series of laterally transferred loops on the other side of the fabric.

7. A nonrun knitted fabric having courses certain of which comprise two sets of loops, one set knitted in regular loops from one thread, 'and the other knitted from another thread in a continuous series of laterally transferred auxiliary loops.

8. A nonrun knitted fabric having courses certain of which are of regular loops only and others of which comprise two sets of loops, one set knitted in regular loops from one thread, and the other knitted from another thread in a continuous series of laterally transferred auxiliary loops.

9. A nonrun knitted fabric having courses cc'rnposed of a thread knitted in regular stitches' only and another thread knitted in a continuous series of laterally ytransferred stitches only.

10. A nonrun knitted fabric including courses each formed of a plurality of threads, one being knitted in regular loops, and another knitted in a\continuous series of auxiliary loops which are `drawn through the bights of certain of the regular loops and transferred to adjacent wales in a succeeding course.

l1. A nonrun knitted fabric including courses each formed of a plurality of threads, one being knitted in regular loops, and another knitted in a continuous series of auxiliary loops which are drawn through the bights of certain of the regu-' lar loops and transferred to adjacent wales in the succeeding course, the auxiliary lopps being in such close proximity as to render substantially the entire area of the fabric of a nonrun ch'aracter.

12. A nonrun knitted fabric having courses formed of two threads, one knitted in regular loops, and the other knitted in each of a plurality of courses in a continuous series of auxiliary loops which are drawn through the bights of certain of the regular loops and.' transferred to adjoining wales in the succeeding course of regular loops.

13. A nonrun knitted fabric having courses formed of regular loops interspersed with courses`v` formed of two sets of loops, one set being normal loops and the other auxiliary loops knit from a separate thread in continuous sequence, which `auxiliary loops .are drawn through and support the bights of normal loops and are themselves transferred to and supported in adjacent Wales in succeeding courses.

14. A nonrun knitted fabric having courses formed of regular loops interspersed with courses i formed of two sets of loops, one set being normal loops and the other auxiliary loops knit from a separate thread in continuous sequence, which auxiliary loops are drawn throughand support the bights of normal loops in substantially every wale and are themselves transferred to and supported in adjacent wales in suceeding courses. NATHAN SCHWARTZ. 

